Tuesday, August 16^th, the new health & dental center played host to many of the early organizers of the very FIRST People’s Health Center as well as special guests – Representative André Carson, Mayor Greg Ballard, Mark Miles (Chairman of the Super Bowl Host Committee Board), and James Taylor (Executive Director of the Boner Center).

In case you are curious, here is a quick timeline of the People’s Health & Dental Center’s fantastic history:

• 1971 - Eastside residents opened the Near Eastside Community Organization Health Center in pool hall at Washington & Oriental streets. The center’s nickname was the ‘blue jeans clinic’ because of the welcoming, down home atmosphere.
• 1972 – the center moved into a remodeled furniture store on East New York Street and was incorporated as People’s Health Center.
• 1979 – People’s Health Center relocated to a converted warehouse on East 10th Street where it stayed for 32 years.
• 2011 - A new 26,000 square foot facility was built in front of the old warehouse that was then demolished for parking.

Tuesday’s community celebration was time for residents to remember the old building as well as celebrate the greater possibilities and pride for the Eastside neighborhood that come along with this new building!

Words from all of our guest
speakers mirrored that:

“We can NOT lose sight of the good that comes from greater access to care”
– Representative André Carson.

“The activity around here on the Near Eastside is
remarkable compared to just a few years ago!”
– Mayor Greg Ballard

“When Indianapolis hosts a sports celebration, it is never about the sport”
– Mark Miles, Super Bowl Host Committee

“What I am MOST proud of is that this health center is that anyone from ANY walk of life can enjoy and use it”
– James Taylor, Executive Director of the Boner Center.

To see more pictures of the event, check out our Facebook page.  We will also keep you updated on any more postings about our health center expansion!

Thank you to all who celebrated the People’s Grand Opening on Tuesday (you can read an article about it at IndyStar.com), and thank everyone who was a part of helping HealthNet and People’s succeed in this expansion project.

 Well, we JUST became a Far Eastside neighbor!!

At HealthNet, we’ve been deeply invested in our neighborhoods for more than 40 years. In fact, many of our health centers began with small groups of residents working to bring health care to their communities, when they didn’t have any doctors nearby. Creating a health care home starts right in our own neighborhoods, with primary care providers who maintain long-term relationships with their patients.

This week, we joined our seventh community and became a Far Eastside neighbor! The new HealthNet Eastside Health Center opened at 38^th Street and Post Road, and will serve more than 2,000 people each year — many living below the federal poverty level.

It’s great to be neighbors with the Community Alliance of the Far Eastside (CAFE), LaPlaza, and other groups at the Far Eastside Neighborhood Center that provide much needed services for this community.

The Far Eastside’s story of involvement and advocacy started in the 1980s, when four local women sat around a kitchen table to discuss the needs of the community. The health center’s staff is excited to be a part of these ongoing efforts to make the Far Eastside a better place to live!

Take Maricela, for example, who began working at HealthNet 11 years ago as a Spanish medical interpreter. She loves what she does, and went back to school to become a medical assistant and later a childbirth educator. Now she’s excited to share her skills and experiences to help Spanish-speaking patients at the new health center.

Susan was a pediatric nurse practitioner for 31 years in Muncie before joining the HealthNet team. She, too, is looking forward to using her talents to help families that have had difficulty getting care.  “This is a very good fit for me,” she said with a smile.

Brandi worked at the Marion County Health Department for many years and is one of the health center’s medical assistants.  “I just completed mytraining to become an MA, so I’m looking forward to the challenge and to doing something different,” she said. “It’s exciting to be a part of the start of this new center.”

Want to be a good neighbor to the Far Eastside? Here’s how you can help:

• Read more about how you can be involved in creating a Quality of Life plan for this community.
• Help CAFE win a 2 KW Solar Renewable system for the Far Eastside Neighborhood Center. It just takes a few clicks!
• Help start a Patient Assistance Fund for the new health center. $25 can help patients with emergency medical needs such as medications, food, shelter, or transportation to and from their medical appointments.
• Sign up for regular updates about the HealthNet Eastside Health Center!